To fully comply with the demands posed by society, higher education institutions (HEIs) are required to cooperate across sectoral borders. Cross-sectoral collaboration (CSC) is especially valuable in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where educational institutions struggle with limited resources and a lack of authentic learning opportunities. CSC can contribute to overcoming these constraints, while simultaneously contributing to wider societal development.

Yet, there is a lack of understanding of the implementation and utilization of CSC within SSA. Most research on CSC is focused on the Global North and explicitly on university-industry linkages, while Global South and wider collaboration networks have received less attention. To fill in this knowledge gap, we examined the existence of and perceptions towards CSC within agricultural programs of four universities in SSA. The specific objective was to understand the different forms of, and the support needed to strengthen CSC.

In December 2020, we set out four online focus group discussions for purposefully selected staff members of four different HEIs in Eastern and Southern Africa. The transcribed discussions were analyzed using qualitative content analysis with a deductive approach.

The results show that the HEIs have a wide range of CSC schemes, and CSC is perceived as an important tool for achieving and improving the university functions. Yet, the establishment of CSC rests largely on the shoulders of individual HEI staff, due to a lack of established university-level structures. Despite the seemingly similar motivations for and forms of CSC, different pathways and strategies for CSC are recognized. These pathways and strategies affect the utilization of CSC, its success, and the benefits received by the HEI partner.

The results of this study can be utilized to improve HEIs' involvement, and strategies to utilize and benefit from CSC, and subsequently improve HEIs' performance in the complex and rapidly changing world.

Keywords: Cross-sectoral collaboration, higher education, agricultural education, Sub-Saharan Africa.